Kjell Hansen – författare

Rural Development is a textbook that critically examines economic, social and cultural aspects of rural development efforts both in the global north and in the global south. By consistently using examples from the north and the south the book highlights similarities of processes as well as differences in contexts.The authors’ knowledge of Afghanistan and Sweden respectively creates a core for the discussions which are complemented with a wide range of other empirical examples. Rural Development is divided into nine chapters, each with a thematic focus, ranging from concepts and theories through rural livelihoods and natural resources to discussions on policy and processes of change. The book sees rural development as a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-faceted subject area that needs multidisciplinary perspectives both to support it and to analyse it. Throughout the book examples of rural development interventions are discussed using analytical concepts such as power, discourse, consequences and context to grasp rural development as practices that are more than what is presented in policy documents.The book is written in a way that makes it accessible for undergraduates while at the same time caters for the kind of deeper reading used by master students and Ph.D.’s. Every chapter is linked to discussion questions as well as suggested further readings and useful websites.

Rural Development is a textbook that critically examines economic, social and cultural aspects of rural development efforts both in the global north and in the global south. By consistently using examples from the north and the south the book highlights similarities of processes as well as differences in contexts.The authors’ knowledge of Afghanistan and Sweden respectively creates a core for the discussions which are complemented with a wide range of other empirical examples. Rural Development is divided into nine chapters, each with a thematic focus, ranging from concepts and theories through rural livelihoods and natural resources to discussions on policy and processes of change. The book sees rural development as a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-faceted subject area that needs multidisciplinary perspectives both to support it and to analyse it. Throughout the book examples of rural development interventions are discussed using analytical concepts such as power, discourse, consequences and context to grasp rural development as practices that are more than what is presented in policy documents.The book is written in a way that makes it accessible for undergraduates while at the same time caters for the kind of deeper reading used by master students and Ph.D.’s. Every chapter is linked to discussion questions as well as suggested further readings and useful websites.

Svenskarna lever sundare än de flesta; vår hälsa engagerar oss intill besatthet och att äta och träna rätt är en statusmarkör. Samtidigt är svenskar det folk i Europa som sjukskriver sig mest. Hur går detta ihop? I brist på medicinska förklaringar tar etnologerna Jonas Frykman och Kjell Hansen saken i egna händer. De skildrar ett Sverige där vårt välmående hänger starkt samman med var i landet vi bor. Mellan 1997 och 2007 landade Sveriges kostnader för sjukskrivningar på en obegripligt hög nivå: strax över 100 miljarder kronor. Omkring 15% av medborgarna mellan 16 och 65 fick sin försörjning via allmänna medel, därför att de hade intyg på att de led av ohälsa. Men förbryllande nog verkarde svenskarna vara ett relativt friskt folk, människor levde längre än i motsvarande länder. Detta förhållande har stötts och blötts bland forskare: hur var sjukskrivningar relaterade till arbetslöshet, ålder, genus? Något som genomgående förvånade var att antalet sjukskrivna varierade så kraftigt mellan olika landsdelar och städer. Jämtland, Värmland och Norbotten hade flest antal sjukskrivna, Stockholm, Göteborg, Jönköping och Kronoberg hade minst antal sjukskrivna. Det är om denna variation inom landet som boken handlar. Kan man få grepp om den, skriver författarna, kan man kanske också förstå incitamenten till att folk sjukskriver sig.